1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for packaging, with a tape, various on-chip electronic parts having leads such as switches, semifixed rheostats, diodes, transistors and the like for use in electronic devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As electronic devices have become smaller in size and higher in performance in recent years, more and more electronic parts are fabricated on chips. There are growing demands for packaging such on-chip electronic parts on a mass-production basis with an automatic inserting machine.
There are several known methods for packaging, with a tape, on-chip electronic parts such as resistors, capacitors, coils, semiconductors, and the like. Such packaging methods, use a paper tape with punched rectangular holes and circular feed holes or a plastic tape molded with rectangular recesses and circular feed holes. FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings illustrates a taping method employing a paper tape with punched rectangular holes and circular feed holes. This prior art is disclosed in commonly owned, copending, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 518,544 filed on July 29, 1983. According to the disclosed method, a composite tape (generally called a "carrier tape") 1 is composed of a tape base 1-2 having parts-housing rectangular holes 1-3 and circular feed holes 1-4, both punched therein, and a cover tape 1-5 attached to one side of the tape base 1-2. In operation, the carrier tape 1 is unreeled from a taping reel 2-1, on-chip parts are inserted into the rectangular holes 1-3, respectively, a cover tape 1-6 is attached to the tape 1 in covering relation to the parts, and the resultant tape is wound around a taping reel 2-2. Where the plastic tape with rectangular recesses and circular feed holes is used, on-chip parts are inserted in the rectangular recesses and a cover tape is applied over the inserted parts, followed by winding up the resulting tape.
The known packaging methods are however limited to only on-chip electronic parts such as resistors, capacitors, coils, semiconductors, and the like, particularly those having short leads, but are not effective in packaging electronic parts having long leads, such as diodes, transistors and the like. The electronic parts with long leads could be packaged with tapes by increasing the width and thickness of the tape and enlarging parts-housing holes, or using carrier tapes designed for exclusive use with respective types of electronic parts. Such methods however would be costly. Since the current trend in the electronic industry is toward the use of more and more electronic parts with long leads, there has been a strong demand in the industry for a method capable of economically packaging such electronic parts with a tape.